Vara Festival – Maria SS. Assunta

The Vara of Randazzo, a jewel of the Sicilian Ferragosto

The Vara Festival is the most significant event of the year for Randazzo, an ancient medieval town perched on the northern side of Mount Etna, in the province of Catania (Sicily). Dedicated to Maria Santissima Assunta (the Assumption of the Virgin Mary), co-patron of the city alongside Saint Joseph, the festival is held annually on August 14th and 15th, drawing devotees, curious onlookers, and tourists from across the island.

A twenty-meter-tall triumphal float

The absolute star is the Vara, an allegorical-triumphal float standing about twenty meters high, representing the Marian mysteries of the Death, Assumption, and Coronation of the Virgin. The structure, made of wood and iron with manually operated mechanisms, consists of several superimposed levels that rotate around a central axis: at the base, a flower-covered sepulcher with the sleeping Madonna; on the upper levels, a moving wheel with Saint Michael the Archangel, Christ, and the Virgin; and at the summit, the Trinity with the crown and cross of the Coronation.

Approximately thirty children and young people, who undergo a preparatory fast, take their places on the Vara to embody the Madonna, the Trinity, the Apostles, Angels, and Saints. It is one of the most evocative displays of faith and tradition in Sicily.

The procession

On the evening of August 14th, a solemn mass precedes the procession of the Dormitio Virginis, the sleeping Madonna. On August 15th, the day of Ferragosto, the procession of the Vara characters sets off from Piazza Santa Maria in the morning; in the afternoon, the great float moves from the apses of the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta and travels along the entire length of Via Umberto I to Porta San Martino, pulled by hand by hundreds of devotees.

As the Vara advances, accompanied by the town band, the youths on the levels of the float sing an ancient hymn, and it is tradition for residents to toss candies and sweets from the balconies overlooking the route onto the crowd below.

Centuries-old origins

The roots of the festival date back to the 16th century, when Baroness Giovannella De Quatris established the celebration; a document from 1476 already mentions a nine-day fair around August 15th. The shape of the triumphal float was likely inspired by the ephemeral architecture set up in Messina for the visit of Emperor Charles V in 1535, following his conquest of Tunis. Since then, the Vara has been the heart of Randazzo's religious and civic identity.